One of Sri Lanka’s senior-most Buddhist monks has been arrested for the sexual abuse of a minor girl, the police said on Saturday.
Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, is the chief priest of a prominent temple in the country. He was taken into custody on Friday night after a magistrate's court in the holy city of Anuradhapura issued an arrest warrant against him and the victim's mother for allegedly aiding and abetting child abuse.
The victim is a girl who is now 15 years old, according to the police, who was allegedly abused in the premises of a temple in Anuradhapura, police spokesperson FT Wootler told reporters.
A complaint about the incident was registered in March. It was initially about the abduction and detention of a minor, reported the Daily Mirror media portal.
When a probe was initiated, the investigators found out more.
Hemarathana was arrested from the emergency unit of a private hospital in capital city Colombo - around 200 km from Anuradhapura - where he was undergoing some treatment, police said.
The mother has also been arrested, police said.
Hemarathana is the top Buddhist monk from Atamasthana, a group of sacred shrines, located in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. These sites are visited by large numbers of Buddhist pilgrims annually.
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